Beer: Ratings & Reviews

Reviews by btorsdog:

This Stoudt's Place sure seems to have their shit together because here is another fine example of excellent brew! Probably not real close to the style"standards" but in taste and quality this is one Smooth Hoperator!pours dark, clear and clean,somewhat transparentsmelled pretty wild with lots of different contrasts, Hoppy, Toasty, Fruity ,Bready Sweet like with some malt present, pretty cool!taste was nice with with alot of the nose effects coming thru, SMOOOTH medium to heavy mouth with a touch of carbonation Overall a very nice brew, hope to be able to partake of this one again!

More User Reviews:

Its great to see Stoudts down here in NC.Poured a lighter bronze color with a tight one finger white head that great lasting power sticking like glue to the glass as it settled very slowly.Wow what a hop presence for a doppelbock!Very citric in the nose mixed with some caramel sweetness and some toasted malt.A little prickly in the mouth but not to annoying.A hefty dose of citric hop flavors with some tropical fruit-likeness as well,toasty in the finish with a light sourness as well.Hmm interesting to say the least,being a hophead I love the hop profile albeit it seems outta place a little.

S: A surprisingly balanced smell of malt sweetness and orange hops. I was surprised by the amount of alcohol aroma creeping in there for a 7.0 ABV.

T: Really tasty stuff. More than an "American style Doppelbock", I'd say that this is a hybrid of IPA and Doppelbock. You get a little dark fruit sweetness up front, then big German malt flavor which is then dominated by the Summit hops kicking in, delivering an IPA type boldness of flavor on the back of your palette. The finish is then more malty and smooth with a slight hop kick in the aftertaste which makes you want to dive back in. I really like this beer.

12 oz bottle served in a regular pint glass. The beer pours an amber color with a 1 finger head. There is great lacing with this beer as well as head retention. I could not get much out of the aroma with this one. I could only pick up hops and malt. Perhaps this is due to the glass that I used. The taste is predominately hop oriented. The first sip there is a pinch of malts and then it is all hops. The carbonation is fine and the beer goes down very smooth. This is an interesting take on the style and one that might improve with a little more balance.

It's more copper than bronze, and the two-finger head has lasting power. I must admit I'm skeptical about this one. Perhaps it's too many "Hop___"s here recently that have tried (in vain) to be Hopslam or Hop Stoopid. Thus far, nothing's close. Only after the pour do I realize it's a doppelbock. I guess it's appropriate to give a dopplebock a hoppy name? I judged from the name that I had an IPA--it surprised me by looking more like a red, but I'll chalk that up to the beer style misunderstanding.

Smell offers nothing of significance. Skepticism grows. It doesn't smell bad, but it doesn't smell good. It smells like an amber. I still feel like I'm dealing with more of a red (my ignorance about dopplebocks might be rearing its ugly head) and, quite frankly, I'm disappointed. A "Smooth Hoperator" with no hop aroma? I feel like I'm giving this beverage the benefit of the doubt with only an average rating.

I taste roasted malts. It's nothing to write home about. Even as I try to disregard the disappointment associated with my flawed expectations, I struggle to embrace anything in the taste of this beer. I take another sip and wonder how/why in the world this beer has earned an A- on this site. I detect maybe a tad of caramel sweetness that I figure is owed to the style. Though I haven't had many, I rank this lowest among the dopplebocks I've tasted. It's not sweet, not sour, not hoppy...there's nothing distinctive about it. In my book, that makes for a subpar beer.

The mouthfeel is a dry, malty one. Though I've divulged my knowledge on the style is limited, I'd guess this beer intended to be somthing it's not. I keep wondering how/why it got its name. As I look for positives, I offer that the carbonation level seems appropriate.

Drinkability is where I'll let the beer have it. "Smooth Hoperator" is a stupid name for this beer. If there's a pun worth associating with this beer, it should involve "malt" instead of "hop." It's not tough to drink, but it ain't smooth either. This might be my first Stoudts review and I know fans abound, but I've yet to encounter something worth remembering.

12 ounce bottle, "Best by 9/23/07" dating etched onto the neck of the bottle. Pours almost ruby amber, clear, with a few bubbles rising to the top. Medium tan head and leaving spotty and stringy lacing. Malty, nutty nose, with flourishes of leafy, resiny hops. Full flavor, complex brew. Layers of rich malts and then resin laden waves of hoppy dryness. Nice, well worth a try

pour into a flaired tulip glass from a 12oz long neck brown bottle with a crimped cap.

Clear,reddish/brown color,off white head very thick with good retention and spotty lacing.

Strong hoppy nose,intense pine,earthy with some grapefruit,resinious feel in the aroma,very clean, no malt aromas were present.

Clean taste,pine/grapefriut hop tastes,sugary malt taste with some burnt carmell finishes with cirtus rind and lots of earthyness. Would say some nugget hops were used in this beer.

Very smooth and creamy,syrupy,cloying with some grainyness.
Suprizing drinkability the name of this beer fits it perfectly.
Must try beer for hopheads,enjoyed this one a lot will be drinking this beer again

Poured from 12oz bottle into Harp pint glass. Label on this bottle is classic. I recently started saving labels and the Smooth Hoperator and Peche Mortel are by far my favorites. Firm pour results in two finger rocky head. Moderate lacing. Light brown in color with a nice rocky off white head. Smell is citrus and floral hops with a pungent malt backbone. Taste is slightly complicated. Citrus hops initially on the palate, followed by a nice malt body that may be considered a bit thin, finishes with a slight hop bitterness. A very nice beer that can be a bit cloying as it warms. Marked down slightly on drinkability.

I'm glad somebody decided to brew a German style bock with some American hops a long overdue experience. Appears a ruby amber tone crystal clear cast to it with a large tan head thick bubbles fomrs large floating above the glass like a biscuit. Aromatics are very nice with full piney and floral hop bouqets with some leafy tobacco and spicy character complemented by a nice warming biscuit caramel malt presence. Flavor comes off upfront leafy herbal bitterness, piney hops really are the highlight with some rolling blended caramel malt rather spicy with a biscuit bready tone to it finishes pretty clean with some hops sticking around. Mouthfeel is medium bodied carbonation is rather light despite the large bubbled nice sized head flows even with a slick oily finish. Drinkability is great an original concept with more than ample flavor I like what Stoudt's has done I could have a few of these without a problem.

T/M: Tastes like a hoppy vienna lager, though I see it's a doppelbock. More like a blonde doppelbock? The citrus is potent but doesn't interfere with the malts. Malts are very sweet, and sticky, same as the nose. Medium body is good carbonation.

Reddish orange beer that is a few degrees from ruby. The beer pours with a crackle and a quick to form tan head. The bubbles recede quickly and stain the sides of the glass with leftover suds.

The smell is malty sweet with hints of white pepper. Not much in the way of hops but it is a pleasant nose.

Taste is quite nice. The malts are for sure the dominating component of this brew with a sweet, bready presence. Again no trace of a hop except for a mild bittering in the finish.

To me the mouthfeel is the best part. I dig the smooth texture of this one and the slight carbonation. There is a subtle hop pinch finally here that could have been around in the scent and taste but then that wouldn't be true to style. All in all a tasty beverage but not much more then average. Easy to drink but not very exciting.

Taste: Floral but balanced big hops with a good balance of sweetness and rind-like hops, along with some bready caramel and doughy malts.

Mouthfeel: Fairly creamy for a bigger-bodied beer. Not too heavy, though, and good carbonation levels.

Drinkability: I thought this was a Pale, and certainly not a Doppelbock. So does that take points off? I'm not sure, but I don't think so. Certainly the hoppiest version of the style I've had, but I like the risk and the differences pay off her.

This jumped out at me on the shelf because of the label, and because it was Stoudt's doing what I thought was a hop-centric beer. Then I find out via this site that it's a doppelbock. Or is it? It does have a goat on the label, and it does end in "-or". Hmm...

This is a gorgeous beer: the head is creamy and fluffy, thick and clingy. You can just tell there's going to be a ton of lace before the head starts thinning and any liquid is gone (and there is--absolute SHEETS of the stuff). The color is a rusty burgundy-amber color, deep and jewel-like. Despite the big and long-lasting head, the color screams "barleywine."

Equal dose in the nose of big caramel and toffee malt with clean, floral hops brightness.

Whoa. This tastes like no other beer I've had. It's somewhere between a doppelbock, an IPA and a barleywine. It's not heavy of weight or syrupy in texture (the "smooth" part of the name, I guess); the hop bitterness is grassy and prominent; caramel and toffee come in right behind the hops. Light flash of burnt sugar; sour/unripe dark fruits (fig, green grapes). Actually, I'm hardly reminded of a doppelbock the longer I sit with it. Take Surly's Bitter Brewer and slam it against an imperial brown ale, and you've got Smooth Hoperator. Maybe.

A true hybrid, at least from what my own tongue says. Not sure how the brewer actually describes/classifies this. All I know is it gets an A+ for originality, although it's just a step or two away from blowing my mind. It's complex, bordering on confusing, but it avoids being a mess. Kudos to Stoudt's for the ingenuity that went into this one.

The aroma invites sweetness, there is initial caramel sweet followed up immediately by all IPA-level hops. Big malty head. A good bitterness. Amarillo and summit hops. A bit of toasted malt.Smooth drinking with suitable carbonation.Fresh and satisfying.